Council considers conservation zone

Bass Coast Shire councillors will tonight consider a plan to turn an unused area of coastal land into an environmental conservation zone.

The Scenic Estate on Phillip Island was subdivided and sold during the 1960s but could never be built on because of drainage issues.

The Bass Coast Shire Council owns about half the land and is trying to buy back the rest from landowners.

The shire's environment manager, Alison Creighton, says the coastal reserve can only be built on land owned by the council.

"What we will be doing is writing to the landowners, particularly some of those are still within Australia, and even some on Phillip Island, we'll be writing to them to talk about what [it] is we're proposing to do with our land and inviting them to against sell their land to the council," she said.